Rafael Nadal and Rohan Bopanna
One of the finest tennis players of his generation, Rafael Nadal took to social media to congratulate Rohan Bopanna after the Indian maestro clinched the Australian Open Men’s Doubles title with partner Matthew Ebden. Bopanna produced unarguably the finest week of his career, as he bagged his maiden men’s doubles Grand Slam title while also becoming the oldest player to clinch the No. 1 ranking. Nadal took to Instagram and posted a story where he congratulated the 43-year-old and wrote: “Congrats Rohan on an amazing and unique achievement!!!!”.
Rafa Nadal congratulates Rohan Bopanna after he became the oldest man to win a Grand Slam in the Open Era. pic.twitter.com/A6EJFEg7cG
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 28, 2024
With the Australian Open men’s doubles title, Bopanna also became the oldest man to win a Grand Slam title.
In the summit clash on Saturday, Bopanna and Matthew Ebden dominated on serve throughout the one-hour, 40-minute match, winning 80 per cent (40/50) of games with their first delivery and not facing a break point to top off a fantastic week.
The duo defeated Italy’s Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in straight sets 7-6, 7-5 in a thrilling encounter.
Bopanna, who made his 17th Australian Open appearance in this edition, comfortably wrapped up his maiden Grand Slam men’s doubles title victory. Aged 43 years 329 days, he also became the oldest Grand Slam champion.
The Indian tennis player is also the third Indian man in the Open Era to win a major men’s doubles title, following Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. On Monday, he will become the oldest top-ranked player in the ATP Doubles Rankings.
This was Bopanna’s second Grand Slam triumph, his first in men’s doubles. His previous Grand Slam victory came in mixed doubles with Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada at the 2017 French Open.
With ANI inputs
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